Vacuum liquid-feed device for internal-combustion engines.



Patented- May 7, 19m,

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Be it known that l, WEBB JAY, a citizen of theUnited States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and 4State of lllinois, have invented new and vuseful llmprove- 4ments in Vacuum'lliquid-Feed Devices for internal-Combustion Engines, of which-the followln 1s a specification, reference being had to t e accompanying drawings, formin 4a part thereof. 4

he purpose of this'finvention is to provide an improved construction in vacuum fuel feeding devices for, internal combusand features of construction shown and de- "1 n scribed as indicated yin the claims.,

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. lin the drawings Figure' l isa vertical axial section of a device embodying this invention`l Fig, 2 is a section at the line, 2 2, on

A 'llwo minor defects have been observed in the operation of vacuum fuel feeding devices of the general type'which is illustrated in the drawings, rst, that the oat which operates the pressure-alternating devices when made in the customary form as a completely inclosed sheet metalv air-filledchaml 4ber is liable tohave minute leaks undiscoverable by inspection, orto develop leaks after short use by slight corrosion at porous spots in the metal, by reason of which the doat becomes lled with liquidand inoperative'as a float; and second, that by reason of the fact that atmospheric air is admitted directlyto the vacuum chamber at intervals l alternating with the suction, and that `upon so that it reachesjclie remainder of the,

the recurrence of the suction after yan int erl -val of air adrmsslon, a considerable portion of' approximately pure atmosphericl air is carried over into the manifold, there is liable 1,

to occur ai corresponding Valternation of suit-v ably" rich and unsuitably lean fuel-andair J'rnixture in the mani ld, with slight did5' Iber a, downwardlybpenfor inverted cup,and y causing the liquid supply `tobe discharged;

into the'chamber only4 .under this cup or'fbell Specification of Letters Patent. Y

-the eng-ina v lt will be obvious ofcourse' that the comprising plyfconnection from ythe low tank,

certain amount of air,`which in the" .of entranment becomes che r@fed withgaso.

Patented lllay't, ildriltft .application mea July is, lar?. serial no iaineo.

lene vapor; and so that a large proportion of the atmospherlc air which is admittedito the chamber, passes into-the bell aroundfthe lower margin thereof, taking some liquid in .the passage, and then out of the bell around the lower margin thereof, again taking some liquid. freemail erect is that the air which 'i can be drawn-finto the manifold .from the vacuum chambernis substantially as highly charged with gadolene as that whichvreaches the manifold thrcgugh," carbureter, 4thus preventing'the altern'atio vleanness and richness in the explosiveY ture supplied to danger of vleakage-of a closed float is ob- I float tends' to become water-logged, t". a, 'lled with/liquid, and no longer operates as 'a buoy. A The construction illustrated comprises features which obviate this diculty.

- ln l the drawings there is illustrated a familiar form of vacuum, fuel feed tank, a ,vacuumchamben l, reservoir, 2, into whicvhitlie chamber, 1, discharges, 'and from whiclrathe c arbureter,A notshowm) is supplied by the pipe, 3, the chamber, l, bef' ing open to atmospher" f'pressure through the duct, 4:',whichconn'ets with the air inlet passage, 5," which is controlled bythe air val-ve, 6; suction being admitted from the manifold through the pipe, 7, and the port stretched past their fulcrum, the lever, 9,. fulcrumed on the chamberhead having the buoy, 13, suspended from its free end, and intermediate its ends connected bythe'link,

. absorbs the air-from the float cavity and the f .controlled by the valve, 8, said valves, 6 and 8, being connected for operation by the snap 1 5, with the lever, 11. rlhe liquid "fuel supy (not shown) from which the said supply is to'be lifted. by suction, is made by the pipe,.1fZ"-, leading in through the cap plate, 18, and

lid.y

continued by means 'of thel pipe, '17, winch-"1,`v 1.

. extends down in the annular interval between thel chambers, 1 and 2, andin through the wall of said chamber, 1, for discharging Y under into the downwardly-open cup-shaped pon consideration. of` the structure shown, it will be understood that when the buoy is at the lowest position, the chamber,

- 41, has discharged its contents linto the chaml ber,` 2, to such an extent as to cause the buoy,

to descend toa position for closing the atmosphere valve, 6, and opening the suction inlet-valve, 8, atmospheric pressure having upto that point been operating upon the .15..liquid the chamber, 1, the air will have passed around 'the lower margin ofthev buoy i and up in to the cavity thereof, and the liquidV level'will be nearly the same inside and out@ side of the buoy cavity, but being a little .20 higher inside the cavity because a condition of partial vacuum has previously existed in that cavity. Upon the closing of the atmosphere inlet valve andthe opening 'of the suction-controlling valve, a condition of partial vacuum being produced in the chi.; c `yer, 1, outside the buoy will cause the liquid level 'to rise outside the buoy and to be depressed.

inside the buoy until the air escapes around the lower edge of the buoy, passing out from its cavity; and this operation will continue while the liquid. flows in through the pipes,

17 and 17a, until the lbuoy is lifted and buoyed vup against the snap `valve action Iwith suihcient force to operatesaid action 3'5" and reverse the valves; whereupon the atmospheric pressure operatin in the cham-.

. ber, 1, outside the float lwill orcethe' liquid whichis. outside the buoy down, and cause .it to rise inthe cavity of ,the buoy, come0 pressing the air which remains therein nearly .to atmospheric tension; and the 4 ,-liquid nowr liowing out of the chamber, 1, into the chamber, 2, and becoming thereby lowered inthe chamber, 1, to the lower edge of the buoy, the air will'pass around said lower edge. and up along'the wall thereof through'the-liquid therein, until the tension inside and outside the buoy fis nearly equal-lv ized; and the buoy meanwhile falling as theA e@ liquid level in the chamber, 1, falls, will eventually operate'the snap action and reverse the valves to restore the suction and cut 0E the atmospheric pressure, and causing a repetitionof the action first described.

4 55- it willbe seen thatk in this operation thefair hasstwo opportunit'ps to become charged with gasolene vapor-,"ifirst in passing from the `chambery..K 1,-i5i1tside the buoy, down aroundthefloyver edge of the buoy into 6o.rcavity`-thereof, and second, in passing Fback'outo-"tbe cavity ofiie buoy around the lovveredge thereof, and up through the @liquid intietohamber, 1, outside the buoy to the top of said chamber,l with the result c5 above stated, that a large proportion of the -liquid lifted. during the suction period; to

air which is .contained in the chamber, ,1, above the liquid therein, and subject to the suction forv carrying it over into the manifoldis adequately enriched with vapor of the gasolene to prevent it from causing any 'material leanness of the mixture in the engine manifold.`

In order thatthis result may be attained toa'shigh a-degree as possible,vit is desirable that as large a proportion as possible of the air enterin lthe chamber, l, should pass into and out o? the cavity of the buoy, that is, that the portion of the cavity of the buoy alternately occupied and vacated by the liquid should be as nearly as possible the full air capacity of the chamber, 1, outside the buoy. For this purpose the structure is preferably designed with the buoy only just enough less in diameter than the chamber, l, to adapt .it to move 'freely up and down therein in the filling and discharging action described.

It will be .understood upon careful convsideration that upon` the reversal of the valves caused by the rising of the float to its high limit and the consequent admission of atmospheric pressure to the chamber, 1, thev supply pipe, 17, will empty'back into the mainlow level tank (not shown) and that upon the closing of the atmosphere inlet and theadmiss'ion of the suction the air the 95 pipe, 17, 17, will be discharged up under the bell lioat, and thus at each recurrence of the'filling action the float cavity will be recharged with atmospheric air,l and the tendency to water logging will be defeated. But in the absence of means to prevent, thel pipe, 17, 17, would act as a Siphon exhaust- 111g from the reservoir, 1, back into the main low level tank a considerable lportion of the prevent this `loss without losing the advantage mentioned above, viz: recharging the float cavity vwith air in each cycle,the pipe, 17,is provided with` an air` vent, 17" openin into the chamber, l`1, at the upper part a ove thehigh liquidI level of that chamber, Awhich causes ,the siphon to be brokenatthat point, so Athat the liquidin the pipe below that l liquid 4inthe chamber,k falls, and )the remainder, trapped in the pipe below the loW- liquid level of the chamber, will be pulled out upon the recurrence ofsuction, and the air aboveafnd behind it willthcn be drawn for dischage'up into the buoy cavity as described.v p

claim 1. ln a vacuum fuel feed device cqmprising a chamber having a liquid fuel sup ly connection and means for alternating high and low pressure in the chamber, a buoy 1n the chamber, and connections for operating the pressure-alternating means, said buoy consisting ofan inverted cup: the liquid supply connectionsbeing positioned for dis r3@ point will fau as the level of I charging within the cavity of such inverted` :moonen cup buoy and thereby reaching the remainder of the chamber by passing around. the lower margin of the buoy.

2. In a vacuum fuel feed device comprising a chamber having a liquidi` `fuel supply connection and. means for alternating., high and low ressure in the chamber, a buoy in the cham er, and connections for operating the ressure-alternating means, said buoy conslsting of an inverted cup; the'liquid supply connections being positioned for discharge within the cavity of such inverted cup buoy, and said connections being free for return of liquid therethrough toward the source of supply, whereby said ,connection lliquid flow to thejehamber.

`.becomes occupiedbyair during the emptying of the chamber andsaid air is'discharged into the buoy cavity on the vrecurrence of 3. In a structure 'suchl as 2, the 'liquid supplylconnection having an air vent openin intoit leading from the chamber above t e high liquid level. thereof for breaking at that point the Siphon formed by doma. in claim said connection whenthe same leacls from a lo'w level main suppl source.

In testimon whereo zll have hereunto set my hand et C "cago, lllmois, this 5th day of July, A. D., 1917. 

